Posted on 03/29/2005 8:58:34 AM PST by Long Cut
We, the Witness Protection Program For Freepers, aka the Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane, have through mutual discussion and rigourous thought, determined that:
1. The discussion threads regarding Terri Schiavo (hereafter referred to as "TS") have become too full of innuendo, rumormongering, hyperbole, hysteria, namecalling, paranoia, and general poor behavior to warrant participation.
2. Said threads have degenerated into "echo chambers", wherein the same, common thoughts are continually posted again and again, and the same old disreputable, unconfirmed and/or false urban myths are propagated.
3. Anyone who joins in said theads with alternative viewpoints to the most extreme posts are routinely driven away with slander, accusations, and vile namecalling.
4. No data or evidence contrary to the "prevailing opinions" are accepted, considered, or discussed; and in fact are rejected outright in most instances.
5. That the continued calls for armed insurrection, military or paramilitary involvement, impeachements of politicians and judges, and death threats are embarassing, stupid, shortsighted, doomed to failure, and contrary to most if not all conservative thought prior to this case, as well as damaging in the extreme to FR and the conservative movement as a whole.
6. That such emotional, hyperbolic, and propaganda-driven hysteria is in fact contrary to all conservatives USED to stand for.
7. That the holding up of swastika and other Nazi imagery towards the police and the Bushes, the use of children as political props, and the disruption of the peace at the Woodside Hospice can only reflect badly on conservatives in general, and should be discouraged.
8. That the pursuit of this issue to the exclusion of all others by the GOP has damaged, perhaps beyond repair, the pursuit of other important issues as well as the reputation of the GOP, FR, and conservatism.
The WPPFF is NOT of one mind as to the case of TS or its correct outcome. In fact, wide disagreement exists within our little group. However, we are united in our wish that reason and sanity be respected in the discussion, as well as the rights of all parties involved or participating. We wish to discuss this as adults and intellectuals, as conservatives and as FRiends, not as children screaming past each other on some playground of hysteria. We wish for facts and evidence to be provided, discussed reasonably, and considered fairly.
We reject all accusations of Naziism, "death cultism", or other slander as methods of debate. We reject the practice of "spamming" multiple threads, of posting unending vanities, and the posting of propaganda and calls for violence. We reject, in fact, all unseemly and childish behavior which has come to characterize this case on FR.
We DO invite others to come and reasonably discuss the issue. We have no problem with FReepers who wish to debate in a rational and fair manner, and with due respect for their fellow FReepers. We have NO problem with those whose views are formed by religion; however we reject "preaching" or "being beaten with a Bible" as legitemite debate tactics. Not all of us are Believers, and such tactics only cheapen the source.
If a FReeper finds this an acceptable meansd to discuss this and other issues, they are welcome to join in and participate. Those who find pleasure in attacks, flame-baiting, slander, stalking, and personal atacks will be ignored, and their egos will go unfed.
We assume this thread to be a zone of sanity in an overheated atmosphere. Thus, a general amnesty is in effect. If posters conduct themselves within the guidlines above, we will be happy to discuss and debate with you. If a poster wishes to apologize for past slips of the tongue, or for possible "over-the-top" statements to another, it will be graciously accepted, and your company welcome.
Please bring a sense of humor; we feel that too many have been taking themselves too seriously lately.
Let the discussion begin!
Signed,
The WPPFF, aka The Wild Turkeys, aka the Coalition of the Sane.
I am not as impatient as hchutch or Poohbah. I'm willing to wait a reasonable amount of time for the grownups to take charge.
DFU/uncleshag SONG: IF YOU'RE LEAVING, STOP THE DRAMA -- download MP3 mocking the opus writers
Well, that didn't take too long. The bath tuckered him out so he's content for a few seconds. LOL! Grandkids are terrific. Spoil them and hand them back!
One thought: I find it odd the Terri threads header is still up but no comment about the Pope. Maybe I'm being too sensitive.
Oh, and need I point out that, NO MATTER the topic at hand, it was usually the SAME fanatical posters doing the hack-and-slash?
I seriously think that's one of the problems that has developed here at FR. There is a group of posters, probably 50 or so regulars, who just enjoy the heck out of smash-mouth, attack-style debating. They refuse to look at evidence because they ARE NOT HERE to learn anything or to develop a position on an issue they're uninformed on. They're here to do battle and to attack people, which says a great deal about their own lives.
I'm glad you're back.
Busted without warning or a "knock it off"!
I got one of those "take 3 days to think about it" things, too.
Glad you're back!
Hildy has departed. Here's why.
FYI
From Hildy | 04/03/2005 1:11:36 PM PDT read
I'm not gonig to be posting on FR anymore. Don't ping me or anything. I've reached my breaking point. Somebody posted pictuers of holocaust victims on a Terri thread yesterday. I asked mods three times to delete it. After that went unanswered I wrote to Jim. This was his reponse:
I once posted that there exist two kinds of Christians (indeed, the division exists in ANY religion). There are those who...
- Sincerely believe in and live up to the tenets of their faith;
- hold to their beliefs because they have enriched their lives and made thenm better people;
- Nonetheless, they do not take leave of reason.
On the other side, however, there are those who...
- Hold to their faith as a means to aggrandize themselves;
- Use their "superior" faith to give themselves a feeling of granduer;
- Pick and choose which parts to believe and follow;
- Consider it a responsibility not only to proclaim their own faith, bu tto trash that of others.
The difference is stark...the first group uses religion as an enhancement to their already-good lives, the second uses it as a weapon to beat down others.
I think the inferiority complex comes in here. I think many of those in group 2 (and all this is just MHO, of course) lead lives that they are not, for whatever reason, satisfied with in some way. They feel "inferior" most of the time. However, one of the ways they CAN feel superior and more righteous than everyone else is to claim that they are "more devout/righteous/holy" than the rest of us. Kind of, "Well, maybe I'm really nobody in this world, but at least I BELIEVE...".
We've seen it throughout the Terri threads...people, no matter how well cornered on logic, reason, and evidence ALWAYS retreated behind the "It's All For LIFE!" shield. This somehow washed away th efact that they had been wrong on many things.
Well, hmm... lol
Just for the record... I have hung out a lot on those immigration threads. It's partly a matter of perspective, but I really try to be fair. And I saw no victimhood of either of them, a lot of provoking by one, and tPTB clearly behind them.
I'll leave it at that. lol
Just damn.
Hildy, if you're listening, we'll always welcome you here.
I myself can't figure out why the Holocaust imagery is allowed to stand. It's as far from pertinent in this case as is Marxism from the Theory of Evolution.
:( I love Hildy. Tell her to come back!
Just damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Allowed to stand AND allowed to be reposted, over and over. In different variations I think.
What about the facts?
Among many other things. I get amused every time the "When is the bi** going to die?" quote is posted as solid, ironclad fact.
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